He stopped pacing with his back to me and let out a low groan. When he turned around to face me, the anger was gone, but his expression remained strained.
“Right now she’s gagged and cuffed. If she continues being rebellious then they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure she’s tamed.” He sat down on the bed next to me and slipped under the blankets, pulling me to him. “My father hates seeing you girls marked because it brings down your sale value, but he also won’t put up with defiance.”
Before Jazz showed up I’d actually relaxed for the first time since I arrived here, but the reality of the situation came crashing down on me again. “How can your father do this?”
Lance took a deep breath in and slowly released it. “Not everyone values human life Gwen, for various reasons I have no desire to speculate on. I’m done talking about this, please change the topic.”
And it was done. I didn’t even want to attempt to push my luck. If I pushed too hard I feared I’d be sent back to my cell and that’s the last place I wanted to be, not when I had the illusion of security right here and now.
I didn’t want to talk about me. If I talked about myself then I’d think about my family and the life I was never going to have and I’d break down in tears. Looking up I caught his gaze and he offered me a smile.
“We can talk about anything, just not about this place and the people in it. Perhaps I would like to escape from reality for a little bit, is that too much to ask?”
I shook my head. “No it’s not. I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “Then bring on some questions.”
“What’s your favourite take-out place?” I asked, wanting to keep things as general and easy going as possible, hoping to get back to where we were before Connor interrupted.
His smile widened. “So, you mean, like fast food?”
I nodded.
“I usually don’t eat fast food.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “You telling me you’ve never gone to McDonald’s?”
“All right, all right.” He clucked his tongue off of the roof of his mouth. “Geez, I don’t know. Burger King.”
“Burger King?”
“Yeah, I like it when they give me one of those gold paper crowns.”
“Those are for kids. Besides, I don’t think they do that anymore.”
He shrugged. “Too bad.”
“I like Subway. They have a great Italian cold cut sandwich. With extra cheese. No veggies, but lots of mayo. I don’t get to eat fast food much because I have to stay small for cheerleading, but I indulge sometimes.”
“Did you go to college?” I asked.
He leaned down and brushed his lips across mine then pulled back before it became more. “I did. Right out of high school and graduated a few years ago.”
“What did you take?”
“Psychology. I was going to continue on after my BA, but life happened.” He twirled another lock of hair around his finger, pulling lightly. I closed my eyes and savoured the tug, not sure why, but it sent a delicious shiver down my spine. I liked it.
Opening my eyes I looked at him. “And you wound up here?”
“Yup.”
How in the hell did he make that leap? It made no sense at all. I wished I could ask. Maybe in time… I frowned. But I was seriously running out of time. In a couple of days I’d be up for auction. I may only have a week left before the last shred of dignity was torn from me. This may be the last conversation I ever had where I felt like an equal. Despite my situation, being with Lance made me feel like an equal despite the fact all the power was in his hands. Hell, my life was his to do with as he chose, but being with him didn’t make me feel that way. Even when I pushed and angered him, I didn’t have the fear in me that he’d hurt me, but there was an even more terrifying possibility that he wouldn’t want to see me anymore and leave me in the hands of someone else.
“I was signed up for a Human Rights course for the fall. Something about it kinda draws me, ya know?”
He raised a brow at me. “What was the course?”
I huffed, once again struck by the irony of the situation. “Human Trafficking.”
“Why does that interest you? Seems a pretty intense thing to study for a cute little blonde cheerleader.” He raked his fingers through my hair and watched as the golden strands slipped through his fingers.
“Because I want to help people. And I don’t understand how some people can be so cruel. It bewilders and horrifies and fascinates me all at once. Or at least did.” I decided to change the conversation before it became awkward for both of us. “Well, why psychology?”
“Because I want to understand people.”
“And you planned on going all the way?”
“That was the plan.”
Shrugging, I placed a kiss on his shoulder. “Maybe it still can be?”
He stopped stroking my hair and ran his index finger along my jaw. “Maybe.”
I couldn’t tell whether he believed it or not – I was leaning toward not.
“My turn, if you could have any name, what would it be?”
I laughed. “Weird question.”
“But a question. I answered your fast food one.”
I huffed rolling my eyes at him. “Maybe Lillian, and people would call me Lily, Lil to my closest friends. All variations of the name is beautiful if you ask me.”
“It would suit you perfectly.”
A large and loud yawn escaped me. I was so tired. Simply drained. Sleeping on the cot with just a single, thin blanket wasn’t comfortable and didn’t provide a very good sleep. “How long do we have before I have to go back?”
He chuckled, tracing my lower lip with his thumb. “Tired of my company already?”
“No. quite the opposite. Just… drained.”
He pulled me closer to him. “Go to sleep, pet. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
~*~*~*~*~
Lance
Lying on my side, I watched Gwen sleep, twirling a lock of her hair around my index finger over and over again. The dim light of the room bounced off of the golden strands beautifully and formed a golden halo around her head on the black pillow. She was an angel in this hell.
Being with her gave me a sense of normalcy. Her presence triggered memories of when life was good, normal. She made my mind wonder about what life could be like outside of this world. I could see myself taking her out on a date. You wouldn’t believe how good the idea of taking her out to dinner and a movie sounded to me. I’d lavish her in romance; there would be flowers and a sweet goodnight kiss at the door, which left me longing for more and anxious for the next date.
I was surprised at how relaxed and content lying next to her made me feel. It felt so damned good. She was like a drug to me and to my dismay I was quickly becoming addicted. She was filling my mind and causing me to make decisions I normally wouldn’t make. Damn these emotions. No matter how hard I tried not to, when I was around her I couldn’t help but feel. But I knew feeling for her was an exercise in futility.
I huffed at myself and my silly ideas. A life that involved dates and friends and college and doing stupid things for the sake of doing stupid things died for me when my mother’s life was violently taken from her. My hope for the future died that day with her and was replaced with one and only one goal – vengeance.
~*~*~*~*~
Gwen
I can’t see who or what they are, but they’re there. Invisible hands are all over me. Pulling me in a million directions. Grabbing me. Touching me in places I don’t want to be touched. I scream. I scream so loud and long that my voice gives out and all that remains is a squeak.
The shadowy figures gradually come into focus. Strangers. Men, but not men, with eyes that glow red and teeth that are more like fangs. They’re going to rip me apart. Shred my flesh until all that is left is a bone in a puddle of blood.
And then Lance comes into view and I’m relieved. He’s going to fend them off and save me. But he changes, until
he’s not him anymore. All of a sudden I realize what he is, he’s one of the characters from the Hellraiser movies and he’s going to tear my soul apart.
“Whoa, whoa. Hey!”
My eyes flew open and I screamed, a loud bloodcurdling scream as I came eye to eye with Lance. I punched at his chest, crab walking to the other side of the bed, my eyes wide in terror. I needed to get away.
“Gwen. Whoa. Calm down.” He slipped from the bed and spread his hands out, palms up. “It’s okay. You were having a nightmare. I’m not going to hurt you.”
My heart rate began to slow as I examined my surroundings and reality separated from the fantasy of the dream.
Sensing that I was calming down, he slipped back onto the bed and held his arms out to me, but not approaching, treating me like I was a deer, ready to sprint at any moment – which I was. “Come here Gwen. It’s okay.”
And it hit me again. The room felt like the air had been drained from it. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak. The room felt like it was spinning around me and my heart felt like it was going to explode through my chest. I was dying. I had to be.
“Oh Jesus! Gwen.” He closed the distance between us in seconds, pulling me into his arms and stroking my hair. “Just breathe. It’s okay. I’m here. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
I’m not sure how long I stayed suspended in the state of terror, but he was eventually able to pull me down from my elevated state. My fingers dug into his back, holding myself so tight to his body that I began to tremble from the pressure. But he didn’t move, just stroked my hair whispering reassurances in my ear.
When I was calm enough to pull back from him, the concern in his expression tore at me. He was my captor yet he was acting as though it was killing him to see me hurting.
“I’m scared,” I murmured, leaning forward and placing my forehead against his shoulder.
“I know.” He brushed his lips against my temple. “I have to take you back now. I have to check on the new girl and have matters to attend to. Are you going to be okay?”
No, I’ll never be okay ever again, I thought. However, I nodded. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll check on you later, if you like.”
“Okay.” My voice sounded so small, barely audible.
As soon as we left the room, it was like Lance flipped a switch and became the distant captor I expected him to be. All tenderness was gone. So I reverted to “good slave” status, eyes cast downward and not saying a word. The guards who usually accompanied Lance were standing in front of the dungeon door and opened it as we approached.
As we approached the cages I couldn’t help but lift my eyes and a gasp escaped me as I saw the new girl. Her hands were cuffed and she was suspended from the ceiling by her cuffed hands, her toes grazing the floor. She was blindfolded and a black ball gag was stuffed in her mouth.
Oh Jenny… Tears welled up in my eyes for her. She didn’t look to be hurt, but I could see the strain in her arms from being suspended.
“Who did this?” Lance demanded, spinning around to glare at the two guards.
“Tanner, Sir. Said she needed to learn to shut her mouth and since you wouldn’t allow her to be punished…”
A low growl, just loud enough for me to hear, erupted from him. He turned back to my cell, unlocked it, unhooked my leash from my collar and gave me a little shove at the small of my back. Locking my cell door, he proceeded next door to Jenny’s cell.
Hearing her cell open Jenny began screaming around the ball gag, which wasn’t much louder than a muffled moan, and wiggling against her bound hands, kicking out in front of her presumably hoping to make contact with one of the guards. I had to admit, she had spirit – I prayed they wouldn’t break it.
“Grab her legs,” Lance ordered his men, who sprang into action forcing her to remain still.
“We got her, Sir.”
“All right, Jenny. I’m going to unhook you. As long as you promise to behave you won’t be cuffed.” He walked up to her and removed her ball gag. “Do we have a deal?”
“Fuck you!” she screeched.
Lance rubbed the back of his neck, his shoulders tensing.
“She’s been like this since we got her here. This was the only way to keep her quiet.”
Lance sighed. “Okay. Well, I want her down. Cuff her hands around the bars and I guess we’ll have to keep the gag on.”
“Motherfucker! I’ll kill you! I promise.”
With another sigh, Lance placed the ball gag back into her mouth, but removed the blindfold. Exiting the cell, he waited for the two guards to unhook her hands from the ceiling and re-cuff her hands around the cell bar so she could sit on the cot.
She murmured around the gag and glared at Lance, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. No doubt, if she could, she’d kill him in a heartbeat.
Chapter 9
Jenny collapsed onto her cot and fell into an exhausted sleep. She hadn’t even woken up when the men dropped off our trays of slop to eat. I doubted an earthquake could have woken her up at this point. She had so much will, it scared me to think of what would happen to her over the next week. I wished I could protect her from whatever brutality would be coming her way, but I couldn’t even protect myself at this point.
“What will happen to her?” I asked Becca, biting into a stale roll.
“Don’t know. She’s in for a hard time if she continues acting that way. Around here you need to learn when to pick your battles,” Becca answered.
“So she bit Jazz?” A tiny smile curled up the corners of my mouth. There wasn’t much to smile about here so any little win felt like we’d just won the Super Bowl, regardless of the pending consequences.
Becca’s smile mirrored mine. “Yeah, took a bite out of his arm. Blood and everything, I swear that girl has vampire teeth or something.” She finished her mashed potatoes, licking off her fingers. “Jazz took her off to punish her, but then came back mumbling to himself and cursing.”
Nodding, I decided not to divulge what I knew. I trusted Becca, but at the same time I suspected Lance didn’t want people knowing about his preferential treatment of me and I didn’t want to jeopardize being with him. I doubted Becca would say anything to the guards, but I wasn’t about to take any chances.
“What happened with you? You were gone a long time.”
I laughed. “How could you possibly know it was a long time with no clocks in here?”
“Felt like a long time. What happened?”
“I learned the fine art of giving head… And swallowing... While pretending I like it.” Despite my words I knew I did like it, no pretending required, but I seriously doubted I’d have that reaction with anyone else. How could they possibly expect us to pretend to like doing something like that to someone we couldn’t stand the sight of?
“Can’t forget about the swallowing…” She rolled her dark eyes, her smile widened a moment and then grew serious again. “How are you? Did he hurt you at all? Did you have another panic attack?”
“I did. After our session.”
“How are you feeling now?”
I forced a smile on my lips. “Better. I’m okay, really. He didn’t hurt me. I did what I was supposed to like a good little slave and it went smoothly enough.”
The sound of footsteps and voices sounded from outside the room so we immediately placed our trays by the cell doors and manned our positions on our cots. I eyed my tray. There was still half of a piece of chicken like meat on it. I wanted that meat, but didn’t go for it. I’d have to wait till the next feeding time, I wasn’t about to bring the wrath of the guards down on me over a piece of chicken. But, damn did I ever want it.
The door was opened to reveal Lance with the two men who normally accompanied him. They must work in some sort of shifts or something – Tanner, Jazz and Connor one set and Lance and his two goons the second.
Lance’s eyes scanned all of the cages and nodded his approval to see all the food trays were at the front o
f the cells awaiting pickup. His eyes landed on the sleeping Jenny as he approached my cell. “How is she?”
I lifted my eyes to see him focusing his stare on me, his expression not giving away anything he was thinking. “She’s okay. Been asleep for a while, Master.”
“Maybe she’ll have a better attitude when she wakes.” Pulling the cell keys from his pocket he began with Becca’s cage and went down the rows gathering the food trays and setting them by the doors. He saved me for last. Opening my cell he motioned with his hand for me to exit.
“Pick up all the trays, slave, and follow me.”
“Yes, Master.” I glanced over my shoulder at Becca and saw she had a bewildered expression on her face.
“Eyes forward and to the ground 342,” he growled, giving me a little shove between my shoulder blades and I stumbled forward, but I caught myself and didn’t fall down. The trays were heavy enough that in my weakened state my arms strained with the weight, but I didn’t complain. He was doing as promised and coming for me for a second time today so I was more than happy to carry some trays for him – regardless of how heavy.
We went up the stairs and turned left, past The Boss’s office and to the end of the hallway. There was a set of double doors, which he parted and held open one side for me to pass through and into a kitchen. It looked like a normal kitchen, aside from the fact that there was a series of freezers along one wall, no doubt where they stored the slop they fed us.
“Where do I put them, Master?”
Lance turned to the armed guards. “Leave us, we’ll be fine.”
They both frowned, but nodded and left, closing the door behind them. After grabbing the trays from me he placed them on the counter and then walked to the kitchen door and locked it. There was a line of knives – butcher knives, steak knives, paring knives. If I grabbed one maybe… But I couldn’t do it and it wasn’t because of the fact I believed there was no way out.
I began to clean off the trays, dumping the excess food into the garbage can. As I finished cleaning off each tray, Lance loaded it into the dishwasher. Halfway through loading the plates I looked over at him and a giggle escaped me.
Bad & Bold - A 7 Book Bad Boy Romance Collection! Page 81